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How Watkins Glen Sparked the Birth of the Corvette · BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show

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  Brake Fix's History of Motorsports series is brought to you in part
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  by the International Motor Racing Research Center, as well as the
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  Society of Automotive Historians, the Watkins Glen Area Chamber of
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  Commerce, and the Argettsinger family.
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  The history of racing in Watkins Glen is long and colorful.
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  It's a story of one man's desire to race his MG on the streets and
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  county roads surrounding the small village, and the obstacles he had to
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  overcome to make that dream a reality.
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  What happened on the streets here, October 2nd, 1948, forever changed the
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  face of racing in the United States.
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  And 75 years later, we are still eternally grateful to the drive
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  and vision of Cameron Argettsing.
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  But, there is another story, certainly not as well known as that
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  of racing, but one that forever changed a segment of the automobile
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  industry, and that also happened on the small village of Watkins Glen.
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  The following are excerpts from a document titled, The Corvette Story,
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  written by Nick Ferboni, former owner of Glen Chevrolet here in Watkins Glen,
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  and on file at the Research Center.
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  In July 1951, Mr.
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  Ferboni received a letter from Harley J.
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  Earle, Chief Stylist of General Motors, an automotive visionary, and
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  the man who was the team leader of the largest industrial company in the
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  world based on design and technology.
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  Earle was planning on coming to Watkins Glen for the sports car races in 1951.
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  Accompanied by a GM engineer and photographer, he would be driving a
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  radical new show car, the LeSabre.
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  He needed a place to store it, and what better place than Glenn Chevrolet.
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  The LeSabre was one of the most influential concept cars of the 1950s.
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  It had aircraft inspired design elements such as the wraparound windshield and
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  tail fins, which became commonplace on cars designed during that decade.
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  It had a body made of aluminum, magnesium, and fiberglass and was powered by a
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  supercharged 215 cubic inch aluminum block V8, able to run on gasoline or methanol.
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  The car also featured GM's first rear mounted automatic transmission.
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  Other advances included a 12 volt electrical system instead of the
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  usual 6 volt used at the time.
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  Heated seats, electric headlights, which were concealed behind the
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  center jet intake, a water sensor to activate the power top, and electric
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  lifting jacks integrated into the chassis to aid in tire changes.
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  It was GM's first use of the LeSabre name, which would later be adopted by Buick.
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  And like all of Earl's cars, it was built to be roadworthy and instead became Earl's
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  daily driver for a period of two years after he finished on the show circuit.
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  The car and the man were both hugely popular in the village that weekend.
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  Mr.
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  Ferboni states, this was the first time I had met Harley Earl,
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  and he impressed me very much.
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  He had an outstanding personality, so easy to talk to, that he made you feel as
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  though you had known him for a long time.
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  Proboni took Earl to the Townhouse Hotel Grog Shop, which was a
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  haven for race car enthusiasts.
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  Earl's stature and relaxed personality made him popular with everyone he met.
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  They were also hosted by Warren Clute Jr.
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  and his wife.
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  The night before the race, they went to the Argettsinger home where he met
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  more members of the racing community.
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  The car did not get a universal acclaim.
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  Some of the car's detractors actually just claimed the car was just simply too big.
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  Mr.
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  Earl made the rounds that week on the Watkins Glen, met lots of different
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  people and universally impressed everyone.
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  The day before the race arrangements were made to have Earl drive the
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  Sabre in the Concord d'Elegance parade from the courthouse to fourth street.
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  The parade consisted of foreign sports and racing cars.
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  And Earl was greatly surprised by the enthusiastic reaction the cars received
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  from the crowd, mentioning on more than one occasion that the American
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  automobile industry was certainly lacking the sports car similar to
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  the European models that he saw.
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  On the day of the race itself, Ferboni and Earl watched the race from the porch
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  of Ferboni's friends, the Woodwards, which was just a short distance
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  down from the start finish line.
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  Once again, Earle was amazed at the great amount of enthusiasm of fans.
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  He was amazed at the turnout of fans.
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  Crowd estimates for 1951 were somewhere in the neighborhood of 150, 000 people
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  in the small village of Watkins Glen.
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  And the extent of their enthusiasm for all of these foreign cars.
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  On more than one occasion, again, he remarked that America was certainly
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  missing these types of cars.
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  And Nick writes in his piece that Although he never said it at the
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  time, he certainly thought it gave him the idea of designing one.
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  His inner wheels were turning, as Nick says.
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  So for those who wondered what those races looked like, they were still
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  running through the streets in 1951.
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  There were only three races run in 1951.
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  The Seneca Cup was eight laps.
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  The Queen Catherine Cup was also eight laps.
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  And the featured race itself, the Grand Prix, was 15 laps.
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  That may not sound like a lot of laps, but keep in mind, they
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  were still running on the 6.
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  6 mile road course.
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  The start finish line was literally right in front of the courthouse
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  and it ran a big circle around the state park at an average speed of 77.
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  65 miles per hour.
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  Starting positions for each race were determined by a drawing from a hat.
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  There was actually no qualifying procedures at that time.
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  Several days after Mr.
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  Earl left, Nick received a very nice thank you letter and the friendship
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  between the two gentlemen was solidified.
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  In the summer of 1953, when Nick learned that Chevrolet was actually
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  building the Corvette, he reached out to the Buffalo Zone office
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  about having a car in Watkins Glen.
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  He was told that only four had been made up to that point, and none had been
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  allocated to a small Chevy dealership in a rural upstate New York village.
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  While the Buffalo Zone office were not helpful, they did authorize
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  him to deal directly with Chevrolet Promotions Department in Detroit.
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  Convinced that the idea for the car had been inspired by Harley's visit
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  in 1951, Ferboni flew to Detroit where he met with the promotion staff.
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  Now the promotion staff did not really know much about Watkins Glen
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  and did not have many ideas about Earl's visit two years earlier.
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  But with the same tenacity that Cameron Argettsinger showed
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  in 1948, Nick went directly to Earl's office in the GM building.
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  Mr.
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  Earle was not there at the time, but the administrative assistant who had
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  actually accompanied him during that memorable 1951 weekend remembered him.
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  A call was made to promotions that Harley Earle's office had approved releasing a
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  Corvette to Watkins Glen Chevrolet, Inc.
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  The car arrived by van a few days prior to the 1953 race.
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  And like the LeSabre two years earlier, it drew a great crowd to the dealership.
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  Also like the LeSabre, it also was at the head of the Concord d'Elegance
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  parade a day prior to the race itself.
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  So in case you might be thinking that this whole story is just urban, or
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  more appropriately, rural legend.
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  There is an actual recording that Harley Earl made with Detroit journalist Stanley
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  Brams in 1954, where he states, I ran a little saber as part of a sports
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  car race in Watkins Glen, and that's where I got the idea for the Corvette.
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  So while I don't think GM has ever actually come out with a memo stating
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  that there is documented proof that Harley got the inspiration for the
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  Corvette when he was here in 1951.
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  Since the arrival of the Corvette, the car has been an integral part
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  of the racing scene at the GLAAD.
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  The Corvette has been used in the driver parades for the Grand Prix here.
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  So all of this leads up to the brand new Corvette E Ray.
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  Yet to be built, but it will be going into manufacture a
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  little bit later this summer.
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  And this will be the center's sweepstakes car for this year.
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  This is the first hybrid Corvette ever made.
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  It's the fastest Corvette.
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  On the market, zero to 5 seconds, 495 horsepower, mid engine motor, and 160
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  horsepower electric motor in the front, four wheel drive, spectacular car.
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  We anticipate having ours very shortly after the build actually begins.
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  This whole history of the Corvette is actually leading up to two
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  very special events that we're going to have in Watkins Glen.
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  It's the first annual Corvette Festival, a large Corvette show down
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  at Kloot Park, the legacy of Harley J.
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  Earl, keynote address which will be given by Richard Earl, grandson and historian.
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  Mr.
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  Earl will show the film 25 Years at Speed, the Watkins Glen story at
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  the Glen Theatre, and then Corvettes will be given an escorted tour
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  of the original street circuit.
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  And that will be leading up to our Vintage Weekend.
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  The festival itself is a day long celebration and honoring of the early
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  days of racing through the village.
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  Corvette, of course, will be the featured mark for this year.
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  There will be a special display of Corvette race cars from different
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  eras, tying together the 75 years of racing at the Glen and the fact that
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  the Corvette has been such an integral part of that history for so many years.
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  That weekend is simply the greatest weekend of the year in Watkins Glen.
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  The Friday event downtown is by far the coolest day of the year here, and the
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  fact that we'll be honoring 75 years of racing, 70 years of the Corvette,
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  and it'll be the 30th annual Watkins Glen Vintage Festival, all tied up
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  into one day is very, very special.
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  So, vintage weekend at the Glenn.
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  Don't miss it.
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  This episode is brought to you in part by the International
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  Motor Racing Research Center.
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  Its charter is to collect, share, and preserve the history
• 9:14
  of motorsports, spanning continents, eras, and race series.
• 9:18
  The center's collection embodies the speed, drama, and camaraderie
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  of amateur and professional motor racing throughout the world.
• 9:24
  The Center welcomes serious researchers and casual fans alike to share stories of
• 9:29
  race drivers, race series, and race cars captured on their shelves and walls and
• 9:33
  brought to life through a regular calendar of public lectures and special events.
• 9:37
  To learn more about the Center, visit www.
• 9:40
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  org.
• 9:43
  This episode is also brought to you by the Society of Automotive Historians.
• 9:46
  They encourage research into any aspect of automotive history.
• 9:50
  The SAH actively supports the compilation and preservation of papers.
• 9:54
  Organizational records, print ephemera and images to safeguard, as well as to broaden
• 9:59
  and deepen the understanding of motorized wheeled land transportation through
• 10:02
  the modern age and into the future.
• 10:04
  For more information about the SAH, visit www.
• 10:09
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• 10:09
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